Director, Special Events

About Us:

vineyard vines is a highly successful, privately held, American clothing and accessory retailer founded in 1998 on Martha's Vineyard by brothers, Shep and Ian Murray. With Shep & Ian still at the helm today, vineyard vines has experienced exponential year-over-year growth and now operates over 120 retail locations including an outlet division, a successful e-commerce business, a domestic distribution center, and an expanding corporate headquarters. In addition, vineyard vines is carried in major department stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdales as well as numerous specialty boutiques across the US.

vineyard vines was founded on a state of mind that Every day should feel this good. You don't need to be on a beach, by the ocean, or on vacation to have "Every day should feel this good" moments. It's a state of mind that we all experience, and one where everyone is invited. At vineyard vines, we don't live an #EDSFTG life away from our desks - we bring it to work with us, too.

In our stores, at our Harbor Drive headquarters, or working remotely, our company culture is fun, encouraging, and welcoming to all. We work hard and play harder, and we never take ourselves too seriously. And while we have many company goals, our number one priority is making vineyard vines a great place to work for all employees. Our team is our family, and we'd never have grown to where we are today without them. We're committed to building an inclusive team across all channels, departments, and stores within our community. We hope you'll join us and see what the smiling pink whale is all about.

Overview:

At vineyard vines, Every Day Should Feel This Good® is more than our tagline—it's the experience we strive to create in every interaction with our customers, partners, and communities.

As Director, Special Events, you will lead the strategy, development, and execution of the brand's event portfolio, creating immersive experiences that bring the vineyard vines lifestyle to life. From iconic consumer activations and retail grand openings to influencer experiences, wholesale events, brand partnerships, philanthropic initiatives, executive engagements, and experiential marketing campaigns, you will shape the moments that strengthen emotional connections with our customers and elevate our premium lifestyle positioning.

Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, this role requires a visionary leader with exceptional organizational skills, creative storytelling abilities, and expertise in delivering best-in-class experiences that generate measurable brand and business impact.

Key Responsibilities:

Develop the Brand Experience Strategy

• Define and execute a comprehensive experiential marketing and special events strategy that supports vineyard vines' long-term brand vision and business objectives.

• Create a cohesive annual events calendar aligned with seasonal campaigns, product launches, retail initiatives, collaborations, wholesale priorities, and community partnerships.

• Develop signature brand experiences that celebrate the vineyard vines lifestyle and create lasting emotional connections with customers.

Lead Signature Brand Events

• Oversee the planning and execution of high-profile events, including:

  • Collection launches

  • Retail store openings and anniversaries

  • Brand partnership activations

  • Influencer and creator experiences

  • Press previews

  • Wholesale customer events

  • Executive and leadership engagements

  • Community and philanthropic initiatives

  • Hospitality experiences

  • Consumer-facing lifestyle activations

• Ensure every event reflects vineyard vines' elevated brand standards while delivering memorable guest experiences.

Create Integrated Brand Moments

• Partner closely with Marketing, Public Relations, Talent & Influencer, Creative, Social Media, Retail, Ecommerce, Merchandising, Wholesale, Product Design, and Visual Merchandising teams to develop fully integrated event strategies.

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to transform campaigns into immersive experiences that amplify storytelling across earned, owned, shared, and paid media.

Drive Cultural Relevance

• Identify emerging trends in luxury retail, hospitality, sports, travel, entertainment, food, wellness, and lifestyle experiences to continually evolve vineyard vines' experiential strategy.

• Develop innovative partnerships that expand brand reach while maintaining authenticity and premium positioning.

• Leverage consumer insights and cultural moments to create experiences that resonate with existing and new audiences.

Lead Production & Operations

• Direct all aspects of event production, including creative concept development, venue selection, logistics, hospitality, production schedules, staffing, guest experience, transportation, gifting, and post-event execution.

• Build strong relationships with production agencies, vendors, venues, hospitality partners, and event suppliers to ensure flawless execution and cost efficiency.

• Establish operational processes that enable scalable, repeatable excellence across all events.

Budget & Performance Management

• Develop and manage annual experiential marketing budgets while optimizing investments across the event portfolio.

• Establish KPIs to measure attendance, engagement, earned media, social amplification, customer acquisition, brand sentiment, sales impact, and return on investment.

• Deliver executive-level reporting and recommendations to continuously improve event performance and business outcomes.

Leadership & Team Development

• Build, mentor, and inspire a high-performing events team while fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, accountability, and operational excellence.

• Manage agency relationships, freelance resources, and external production partners.

• Champion innovation while maintaining rigorous attention to detail and flawless execution.

What You Bring:

• 10+ years of progressive experience leading experiential marketing, special events, hospitality, or brand activations for premium lifestyle, fashion, luxury retail, hospitality, or consumer brands.

• Proven success developing signature brand experiences that generate consumer engagement, earned media, and measurable business results.

• Extensive experience managing complex, multi-market event programs and large-scale experiential campaigns.

• Strong relationships with event production agencies, hospitality partners, luxury venues, vendors, and creative collaborators.

• Exceptional project management, budgeting, negotiation, and operational leadership skills.

• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders across all levels of the organization.

• Creative thinker with exceptional attention to detail and a passion for delivering elevated customer experiences.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple high-profile projects simultaneously.

• Willingness to travel extensively and work evenings and weekends as business needs require.

Every Day Will Feel This Good Because: 

• We have a fun-spirited entrepreneurial culture filled with truly “good” people
• We offer a generous employee discount so you can rep our lifestyle on-and-off the boat
• We offer a competitive salary package, 401-K, commuter benefits, and paid-family leave, health savings, flex spending accounts, life & disability insurance
• We have an onsite gym as well as health & financial wellness programs to keep you active
• We offer 2 summer Fridays to take off in addition to a competitive vacation policy & holiday calendar